Friday,13
February 2004
The Developmental Challenge to Genetic Determinism:
A Model Explanation for Sexual AttractionChristopher
Horvath
Illinois State University
12:05 pm, 817R Cathedral of Learning

Abstract:
Research over the last several decades has shown that many of the
traits that make up human sexuality are both typical of human beings
across cultures and reliably reproduced from generation to generation.
Nevertheless, attempts to generate biological explanations of sexual
orientation are often criticized as genetic determinist
where that is understood to mean both (biologically) unrealistic
and (politically) homophobic. Developmental Systems Theory (Oyama
1985, 1999 and Griffiths and Gray 1994) offers an alternative model
of biological systems that does not privilege genes over other developmental
resourcesincluding aspects of culture. The most often heard
criticisms of the DST approach is that it does not provide any concrete
accounts of the mechanisms by which the developmental systems
central to DST accounts operate and that most DST accounts are too
vague to allow for testing. The goal of this paper is to offer a
concrete DST hypothesis for the development of sexual orientation
in at least some human beings that is consistent with established
theories of human psychosexual development, is centered on biological
processes but is not gene-centric, is in principle open to experimental
testing, and does not pathologize non-heterosexual orientations.